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Welcome to The Morning Star Update!
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Greetings!
To me it seems that summers pass too quickly and winters too slowly. I can hardly believe that August has already come and gone. It was a glorious month here in Kansas.
I spent much of August working on A Taste of Morning: Recipes from The Morning Star Bed and Breakfast. This project has been a long time in the works and I have put a lot of effort into it. With the help of trusted testers and tasters, I dedicated August to finishing the volume. It is almost ready to be printed and I am hoping to have copies by mid-October. Keep your fingers crossed!
In the meantime, with the arrival of September, Bill and I are looking forward to seeing some of our regular football season guests once again and to meeting new ones. (Unfortunately, a few of our regulars can't make it this year and we will miss them.) We wish our friends on an academic schedule the best for the new year.
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Plant of the Month
The plants in our front garden that have received the most attention lately are a varieties of Hydrangea paniculata. One is "Pink Diamond" and the other "White Diamond", but they are indistinguishable during the heat of late summer when they sport pure white blooms.
The differences are these. "Pink Diamond" is supposed to have pale pink buds, though mine are always as white as those on "White Diamond". The flowers on the pink variety, though, deepen to a medium dusty rose hue in the autumn as they dry on the shrub. The flowers on the white variety, on the other hand, are supposed to retain their color as they age. Mine, however, get just a speckling of pink as they dry out. Hydrangeas prefer acidic soil and I don't acidify ours, so maybe that is responsible for these minor deviations.
Apart from appearance, another attractive feature of these shrubs is that they bloom on new wood. This makes them ideal for places that have harsh winters. I prune ours severely late in the Spring and by the end of the summer the shrubs are about my height and are covered with large panicles of showy flowers. They require even moisture, which means lot of water during the worst heat of summer, but otherwise they appear pretty hardy.
There are a number of varieties in the Hydrangea paniculata family. A similar one is "Tardiva". Click here if you have some thoughts to share on hydrangeas or have gardening tips that you would like to pass along. |
Yoga and the Traveler
One of the great things about yoga is that you can do it almost anywhere. This is a good thing for travelers to keep in mind. So often after a long car ride or plane trip, guests arrive tired, stiff and sore. Without doing something to loosen up, that doesn't go away quickly. A warm soak in one of our jacuzzi tubs is often a help, but sometimes a little exercise can be useful too. Both at home and on the road, I've found doing yoga, to be an effective way to release muscle tension. If you don't already do yoga, you should start with a class, personal training or at least with a good instructional video; and then you can take what you have learned with you. Two counter poses for beginners that really loosen up the back are Downward Facing Dog and Upward Facing Dog. After you have walked around or done something to warm up a little bit, start on the floor on your stomach. Push up onto your hands and toes, and while tightening your core muscles push your hips backward and toward the sky for Down-Dog. Hold for a breath or two then lower your torso, arch your back and flip your feet, one at a time, until you are bearing your weight on the tops of your feet for Up-Dog. Reverse your movements and repeat the cycle several times. Photos of these postures are in the right column. Standing Pigeon with Prayer Hands is pictured above. If you are interested in a book about yoga, one that I like is Hatha Yoga Illustrated by Mark Kirk, Brooke Boon and Daniel DiTuro. Click here to pass along your tips for loosening up while you travel. |
Morning Star Readers' Picks
Linda from Kansas is one of our regular guests here at the B & B, and the two of us often discuss what we are reading. Linda recently read The Road by Cormac McCarthy and highly recommended it. We've had several interesting breakfast conversations about this intense novel. The Road is the story of a father and son struggling for survival in a post- apocalyptic time. It is bleak, terrifying, sparsely written and yet filled with moving imagery. It is not a book that I would recommend as bedtime reading for the faint of heart. It is, however, incredibly well written. McCarthy, for example, is able to make his readers care deeply about these two characters even though we don't even know their names. This thought provoking book won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2007. Click here to let me know what you think about this selection or to pass along your recommendations. |
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Bill and I hope that you have been enjoying your summer. Have a great September! We look forward to hearing from you and to seeing you soon!
Sincerely,
Laurie Pieper
The Morning Star B&B |
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Daytime Dining, Downtown
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With such varied options for where to go out for lunch, it would be a mistake to forget about our locally owned downtown eateries. Here are some places worth remembering that specialize in daytime dining and are within walking distance of The Morning Star. Serving breakfast, lunch and speciality drinks, The Chef Cafe is a fun reincarnation of an old Manhattan diner. For folks downtown, lunch at Howdy's is a long-standing tradition. Open for lunch on weekdays, this deli style restaurant is the casual companion to Harry's. Not to be thought of only for dinner, several other downtown restaurants are also open for lunch. Harry's and Della Voce serve weekday lunch and Della Voce also has Sunday brunch. For the pizza officianado, there's A.J.'s New York Pizzeria. A.J.'s starts serving pizza pies and slices with your choice of sauces, cheeses and toppings at 11 a.m.. |
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Adho Mukha Svanasana
(Downward-Facing Dog)
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Stretches palms, chest, back, hamstrings, calves and feet.
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Urdhva Mukha Svanasana
(Upward-Facing Dog)
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Stretches shoulders, chest, spine, abdomen and quadriceps.
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Dates to Remember
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Through October 2nd: Kansas Masters Invitational, Strecker-Nelson Gallery
September 2nd: Sir Wick (Latin R&B, Jazz) Four Olives
September 3rd and 4th: Purple Power Play on Poyntz
September 11th - December 24th: KSU Art Department Faculty Biennial, Beach Art Museum
September 18th:Night of Hope, Jazz at the Ballroom, Houston Street Ballroom
September 18th: The Second City,McCain Auditorium
September 18th - 20th: Aggiefest
September 19th: Paxico Blues Festival
September 24th:K-State Presidential Inauguration
September 24th: Jon Nakamatsu, McCain Auditorium
September 25th - 27th: On the Verge, Manhattan Arts Center
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